4 Chapter 4

Nikki groaned and slowly moved to switch off the alarm on her phone. She sat up and slightly flinched from the pain of her throbbing headache, remembering how she cried herself to sleep the night before after writing the letter. She just knew she was going to have puffy eyes from how swollen her eyes felt.

She got up to get ready for school. Even though it was a Saturday, some students would go to school to study during exam period. She usually didn't do it, but she agreed to go with Helena this time, who goes there most Saturdays due to the loud bar at her house. Sofia would've gone with, but she had some event to attend, probably for the school committee or some club.

She brushed her teeth, took a shower, dressed casually in some jeans and a grey t-shirt, and then walked to the kitchen to make breakfast. It was 09:12 by the then. She had agreed to meet Helena at school by 10:00. The house was silent, showing that everyone else was still sleeping, even Anna, surprisingly, who was normally awake by 07:00.

'She must've stayed up all night on YouTube again.'

After Nikki finished her breakfast, she decided to write a note informing the rest of the household where she would be, remembering the time she went for an early morning run, just to find her cousin Eric outside with a worried face on.

He had woken up to some noise and the front door closing. Fear that someone had broken in made him concerned, so he walked out to find out what happened, about to call the police, just to find nothing. He woke up the others and found that she wasn't in her room. She came back right in time before the police was called.

Eric was very protective of the rest of them since he was the only adult that lived there and had to take over the responsibility and management of the household,incuding the people living in there. He worked as an engineer at an office whose name Nikki keeps forgetting, so most times he was barely home. Other than some stressful situations, Eric was mostly a chill guy.

Nikki put a jersey in her bag, in case she got home late, picked up her bag and left for school.

When she arrived, there were already a few others in her classroom. She knew she would eventually be stuck in conversations and would never get to study, so she decided to go to the library. She texted Helena incase she wasn't at school yet.

Nikki- Where r u?

Helena- About to arrive.

Nikki- I'll be in the library.

Helena- K

Nikki put her phone on silent, put it in her pocket and walked to the library. Thankfully, the library was open today.

'I guess the librarian gave someone the key.'

Nikki found two other people quietly studying. She walked to the one of the desks in the back, sat down and took out her books to study. Among the books was the Physics note book she struggled with last night. Remembering how she never got to finish studying the night before, she flipped through the pages to where she stopped.

She froze when she saw something stuck in between the pages.

Itʻs the letter.

And she brought is to school. She was never gonna concentrate with this here. What if Helena sees it?

'No no no, Iʻll just hide it in my bag.'

She put it in her bag and placed it on the ground.

'There. Out of sight, out of mind.'

She started studying as she waited for Helena to arrive. This time it wasn't as hard as before. The sleep after the stressful night she had calmed her down, but it didn't clear her mind of all the time wasted after the session from the night before. She hoped today she would be able to do more than before.

'Maybe all I needed was a change of scenery.'

Nikki turned to the next page as someone pulled the chair in front to her. She looked up to find the boy from the fall staring at her. The two locked eyes for a while. Nikki wasn't the type to keep looking someone in the eye for long, but all that seemed to cramble at that moment. After she snaped out of it, she looked down at her book as he took the seat across from her, noticing how he froze to stare at her.

Nikki tried to concentrate, but its was hard when she was so aware of everything he did. The way he pulled out his books from his bag and set it on his desk. The way he tapped his pen as he read his book, which also happened to be Physics.

Nikki snaped out of it when she realised what she was doing.

'Why is my focus on him? I need to study.'

She suddenly looked up to find him already staring right at her. She quickly pretended to look at some books behind him, but she could still see him was staring at her from her peripheral vision.

Nikki couldn't think straight. She didn't understand what he was doing and why he was doing it. She found it weird, and yet interesting.

'Just don't think about it and it will go away.'

She thought to herself and looked down at her book with an intense stare. This time, she managed to focus on her studying, and barely noticed anything around her.

After a while, the chair next to her slid across the floor, indicating someone sitting next to her. She was proud of herself for studying for so long, it was definitely a good idea to come to school.

She looked to her side thinking Helena had arrived, only to find the guy from before sitting right next to her. He had moved seats to sit next to her.

'What is he doing? Why is he getting so close to me?'

~*~